Piana degli Albanesi

Piana degli Albanesi
Country	Italy
region	Sicily
Metropolitan city	Palermo  (PA)
Local name	Hora e Arbëreshëvet ( Albanian )
Coordinates	38 ° 0 ′  N , 13 ° 17 ′  E Coordinates: 38 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 13 ° 17 ′ 0 ″  E
height	725  m slm
surface	64 km²
Residents	5,924 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density	93 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	90037
prefix	091
ISTAT number	082057
Patron saint	Maria Odigitria, San Giorgio Megalomartire, San Demetrio Megalomartire
Website	www.pianalbanesi.it

Piana degli Albanesi ( Albanian  Hora e Arbëreshëvet ) is a city of the metropolitan city of Palermo in the region of Sicily in Italy with 5924 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019). The city is still almost exclusively inhabited by Arbëresh .

Geographical location

Piana degli Albanesi with lake

Piana degli Albanesi is 27 kilometers south of Palermo . The residents mainly work in agriculture. The neighboring municipalities are Altofonte , Monreale and Santa Cristina Gela .

history

The place was founded in 1488 and was officially called Piana dei Greci (Plain of the Greeks) until 1941 due to the Byzantine church rite . Today the city is officially called Piana degli Albanesi , commonly also Hora e Arbëreshëvet (City of Albanians) .

The place was founded by Arbëresh ( Albanian immigrants) who fled the invasion of the Turks and received new settlement areas in Sicily.

Since 1937 Piana degli Albanesi has been the bishopric of the Piana degli Albanesi eparchy , one of the two Italian-Albanian dioceses .

Attractions

Women in traditional Albanian clothes

• Cathedral of San Demetrio Megalomartire , built in 1590, painted by Pietro Novelli 1641–42
• Maria Odigitria Church (1644)
• Church of San Giorgio Megalomartire (1493)

sons and daughters of the town

• Lekë Matrënga (1567–1619), Catholic clergyman and early Albanian writer
• Demetrio Camarda (1821-1882), Philolog
• Marco Petta (1921–2007), monk, Italo-Byzantine scholar and teacher
• Sotìr Ferrara (1937–2017), Bishop of the Piana degli Albanesi Eparchy

literature

• Matteo Mandalà: I 500 anni della fondazione di Piana degli Albanesi (1488–1988). Breve profilo storico e letterario di un anniversario. In: Southeast Research. 47, 1988, ISSN  0081-9077 , pp. 209-222.

Web links

Commons : Piana degli Albanesi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information about Piana degli Albanesi (Italian)
• Local government website (Italian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.